Maybe This Time
by diagon galley
Summary: Lily and James didn't die that cold night in October. Instead the whole family survived. But Harry.. was lost.   Has some canon couples. PE/SB, LE/JP, HP/GW, RW/HG.


Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters. If you want to know who does, try J.K Rowling._

"Lily! Run and take Harry! I'll keep him off!" James ducked a green light and sent a hex at Voldemort which missed.

"Getting a bit old, James? Needing new glasses?" Voldemort taunted while firing a hex at James' torso.

"At least I don't need a nose job!" James yelled back as he ran further into the house. Had Lily gone and taken Harry? She had better have gone at least to the nursery, because the nursery was the safest place in the whole house. He had put the enchantments on it himself. He had to get there before Voldemort killed him. If he did get killed, the enchantments would wear off and leave Lily and Harry… He couldn't bear to think of what would happen then. Voldemort saw the magical glow emanating from the nursery. Figuring it would be protected by spells, he cast an Incendio on the ceiling in front of the room.

"Who's getting old now, Voldy?" James yelled, not looking where he was going. He was running straight for the wall of fire which blocked the entrance of the nursery. Voldemort smiled and cast a simple shield spell around him, then placed his wand into his billowing robes, waiting for the collision of James and the fire. James could feel a searing heat next to his shirt. He stopped. A malodorous burning smell filled the air. His hair was on fire. James ran around like a headless chicken.

"WATER! WATER! WHAT CAN A FRICKING STICK HELP ME WITH WHEN MY HEAD IS ON FIRE?"James yelled. Voldemort smirked. It was probably the heat of the fire which was making him so stupid. James seemed to have gathered his senses and shot a quick Aguamenti at his head. How was he going to run through a wall of fire? He shot another Aguamenti out. THAT WAS IT! He doused himself in water, while constructing a shield charm around himself. Voldemort started shooting killing curses at him, but his shields held well. He took a final breath, and with one quick look at Voldemort and ran through the fire. The water on his skin sizzled and evaporated into water vapour, leaving steam burns on his skin. He made it through the door without being set alight, but still suffering from severe burns. Through his blurry glasses which had partially melted from the heat of the fire, he made out the figure of Lily, trying to soothe Harry.

"Lily! HARRY!" he shouted. As he looked at his wife and child, he felt a pang of love mixed with a tinge of anger and worry.

"I thought I told you to leave," he said while encircling his arms around his family. Lily looked up at him with fear in her large green eyes.

"There are Death-Eaters at every exit," she whispered, trembling. James looked at her in horror. Suddenly, a buzzing started in his pocket. He drew out a mirror, and tapped it with his wand. The handsome face of Sirius Black appeared in the mirror.

"James, my man. Sup?"

"Look Sirius, there is no time for jokes. He's here.'

"Who's here? Santa Claus?"

"VOLDEMORT IS HERE!"Lily's infuriated face appeared in the mirror. She had put Harry in his cot and had come over to see Sirius.

Sirius' normally tanned face went white. His mouth thinned to a line.

"How? Peter would never betray us.'

"It's not the time for asking how, you idiot. Get your ass over here. I don't think my spells will hold up for much longer."

"I'll come over with my motorbike immediately."

Sirius was thinking it hard over in his head as he ran to crank up his motorbike. Would Peter betray them like this? Lately, he had been acting weirdly – quite sad and depressed. It could be because his mother was sick. He had been visiting her quite a lot lately… His idea was quite plausible. He shook the problem out of his shaggy head and concentrated on getting to Godric's Hollow. As he flew nearer to the place where their house was, he saw that quite a few Death Eaters surrounded a place which he could not see – the place Lily and James were staying. He fired a few stunning spells from above, taking down all of the death eaters in the garden. Sirius landed in an old oak and took out is mirror again.

"James! All of the Death Eaters in your garden are gone. Get out!" Sirius shouted at the piece of glass. He could see James and Lily on all fours.

James rushed over to the mirror while coughing from a bad smell. The smoke must have been getting to him.

"Sirius. Harry. He's gone."

"Dead?"

"No. Just missing. We can't leave the house without him."

Lily tried coaxing Harry out of wherever he was. "Haaa-rrryy! If you come out now, you get your favourite mashed potato and apple puree with carrot juice poured in. Come on, Harry. She continued until she realised that the only sounds she could hear was James talking to Sirius and the roaring of the wall of fire. There was no sound of hexes being fired at the wall, or even the gentle breathing of the toddler. She scanned the room, her eyes finally focussing on a burnt sock. Harry's sock. A bad smell. In one instant she pieced everything together and let out a terrible wail, one worthy of a banshee and sank to the ground. The mirror in James' hand broke from the ear splitting screech that was emitted out of Lily's now shaking body.

He ran over to his wife.  
"Lils, we'll find Harry, come on-"He broke off his sentence as he saw the tiny shrivelled black sock in Lily's hand, still smoking. His eyes widened momentarily, but his look of shock was replaced by one of confusion, even anger.

"LILS! Are you crying over one of Harry's BLOOMING SOCKS?"

Lily stopped her wailing and looked James in the eye.

"YOU'RE SUCH A #&*%! PIECE IT TOGETHER WILL YOU! HE WAS WEARING THIS GODDAMN SOCK! A BAD SMELL, Harry gone, a burnt-" At that moment, Lily Evans burst into another bout of sobs.

Sirius was waiting in the tree, wondering what was keeping James and Lily. The nursery wasn't that big. He checked his watch. Another minute and he would go in there to drag the family out. Maybe they had fainted from the smoke.

All right, that was it. He dashed inside the house and saw two shaking figures moaning as if someone had Crucioed them. He took them by the armpits and dragged them out, just before the ceiling crumbled.

"Now, which one of you guys have Harry?" asked Sirius. The two adults looked up at him and sobbed even harder.

In the house under a table sat Harry Potter, fidgeting with his toy wand, his hair singed. He could see billowing robes pacing beside him. His wand could do only some magic. Spells like Incendio and Sectumsempra had been blocked off by Lily. Suddenly a pale face appeared, peering at Harry.

Harry started laughing, a beautiful cute chuckle which made almost everyone smile. Voldemort started laughing too, but his was a cold laugh, a triumphant one. Harry Potter would die by his wand. With his hand shaking with glee he tried to focus his wand.

"Avada kedavra!" Harry had keeled over from laughing so much at the funny face before him and so the light missed him. He looked down at his wand. He would copy pale face! His face screwed up in concentration. His daddy told him that if he wanted to make spells, he had to really want to do it. He really wanted to make a green light.

"Vadaedavra!"

A green light shot out of the wand and hit Voldemort in the face. Lily had forgotten to block the unforgiveable curses.

_This is my first fanfiction so please, tell me what you think! _


End file.
